Trir calculation: How to calculate the total recordable incident rate.
It is rewarding for a business to have a successful environmental health and safety arrangement that will improve the performance of hse management system. Measuring the performance of any system should also be in place to ascertain its effectiveness and delivery and areas that need improvement.
One of those ways to measure your health and safety performance is by using a metric called TRIR.
TRIR means total recordable incident rate. TRIR is that key HSE metric, a lagging indicator, that will help you to monitor your business and help find areas of improvement for you.
What is TRIR?
Trir is an acronym that means total recordable incident rate. The metric was created by OSHA, mainly to measure and compare the safety performance of a given organization from the past year within a particular industry.
Importance of Total recordable incident rate TRIR
The importance of TRIR includes
Data for insurance premium.
TRIR Gives data that the insurance can use to determine the premium for their use. However, when the TRIR is high, it shows the insurance premium would be high. You’ll be paying more.
Past safety performance
Data from TRIR help to know the past safety performance of your business.TRIR will help health and safety managers to track incidents. It helps them discover patterns across different work locations. And also make them have informed decisions.
Helps Suppliers and sub-contractors to make decisions
Suppliers and vendors can make use of the data in your Total recordable incident rate TRIR to know if your work environment is a safe place to work. The company itself may find it hard to even source for suppliers and opportunities when they have a high Total recordable incident rate TRIR,
What does a high Total recordable incident rate TRIR mean?
A high Total recordable incident rate TRIR means that your business is prone to incidences and that workers could be exposed dangerously while at work.
It could make the OSHA pay visit to your business and make surprise inspections which may result in penalties.OSHA may increase oversight in your company’s EHS programs.
How to calculate(TRIR)Total recordable incident rate
When you want to calculate the Total recordable incident rate TRIR, you have to take into account the following recordable incident. Recordable work-related incidents are death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity, medical treatment cases, and transfer to another job. Do not include the Vacation and leave hours in the total work hours during your calculation. Ensure to include subcontractors working in your company in your work hours.
The Total recordable incident rate TRIR formula
The formula for calculating the TRIR is
(The number of incidents X 200000) / Total Number of hours worked in a year.
An example, the number of incidents in company A is 10, and the total number of hours worked that year is 500000 hours. The TRIR is 4.
OSHA chose a 200000 benchmark as it represents 100 employees doing a 40-hour of work per week in a year of 50 weeks. So, 100 times 40 times 50 will give you 200000.
How to improve your Total recordable incident rate (TRIR )
1. Promote a “Safety first” mentality.
The safety-first mentality will go a long way to address issues around incidents. When workers have this mindset, they will put safety first.
When safety is first, they will tend to work safely. Safety is viewed as a top priority and will improve the Total recordable incident rate TRIR. Start from the first day you employ a worker by teaching them to imbibe this “safety first” mentality.
If you can make it a slogan such as safety First, safety always and let everyone recite it as their greeting at all times. With this, it will form a habit within them.
2. TRIR documentation
Ensure you maintain good documentation on all your incidents on-site. Have the necessary documents; legal, inspections, risk assessment, and Industry certification such as compex certification. Ensure to keep them intact. Make sure you update them when necessary. By doing this, you are improving your safety performance and can identify areas that need improvement.
Your business will not have to pay the price of a fine because your documents are up to date. The OSHA will not shut your business down.
3. Maintain open communication.
Getting a good Total recordable incident rate TRIR performance starts with how effective your communication is in the workplace. Communication is an effective tool to make everyone be on the same page on any matter relating to health and safety at work. There are a lot of communication avenues that you can promote in the workplace. And they are safety meetings, pre-task briefs, toolbox talks, and even worker consultations on risk assessments and other matters.
A management hierarchy should also show an example by leading workers on how to work safely. And by conducting safety topics at various meetings. Frequent communication will encourage a healthier and safer working environment. And it will have a tremendous effect on the TRIR.
4. Encourage the use of the right tools.
Using the wrong tool is one of the reasons an accident happens in the workplace. Always provide your team with the right tools to enable them to perform their work without error. Apply this to all workplace tools.
Read more:
- What is the difference between a stage 1 audit and a stage 2 audit?
- Crsp certification: How to become a Canadian registered safety professional
- A chemical company has been fined after releasing a cloud of toxic chlorine gas in the factory
- Must do things you need to know before you enrol for ISO 45001:2018 STANDARD lead auditor course.
- A guide for your IOSH MEMBERSHIP
- How do we make the health and safety policy accessible to all workers
Onyeka Emma is a QHSE Professional with more than 10 years of experience in occupational health and safety, which spans many industries such as construction, beverage, oil and gas, etc. He has many health and safety certifications, including NEBOSH IGC, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 Lead auditor certificate. A member of IOSH, ISPON, and Nigeria Red Cross Society. He is interested in business, entrepreneurship, Speaking, and motivating people to do better for themselves. He enjoys leisure with a good motivational book.
